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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22698424">Ike Knew</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomComLover/pseuds/RomComLover'>RomComLover</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>South Park</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Ike’s POV, M/M, Pining, he just knows you guys</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 11:09:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>597</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22698424</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomComLover/pseuds/RomComLover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ike Broflovski knows, he doesn’t need anyone telling him, he’s clever.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kyle Broflovski/Eric Cartman</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>108</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ike Knew</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Whenever I have things to do, (like taxes) I prefer to do other things.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ike didn’t have to see what was going on, he just knew. Although he would never tell his own brother.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He personally liked Eric Cartman, Ike thought he was funny and smart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No, Ike wasn’t gay for him, he just thought Cartman was like a breath of fresh air in his other wise stuffy life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t easy being an adopted Canadian raised into judaism, he honestly wasn’t big on it but his family was and he didn’t want to feel like more of an outcast than he was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He happily paraded around with his Jewish faith and proved to be much more clever than people thought he was. Well, more so than most people, the only people who saw his true potential, ironically, were his brothers own friends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The clueless assholes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ike could enjoy their company, he could tolerate it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wouldn’t hang around them, not intentionally anyway, it just felt too awkward.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric and his brother, bickering constantly and then the next moment teaming up against Stan or Kenny… sometimes Butters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But that wasn’t the most awkward part, it was the looks, everyone had one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was obvious to everyone except his brother.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sad longing look Eric would toss Kyle’s way anytime he turned around. The uncomfortable face Stan made at it and the way Kenny pointedly glared at Stan. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t say anything.</span>
  </em>
  <span> They all knew.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Except for Kyle. And although that was his brother, Ike didn’t feel the need to say anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was there when the four went their separate ways after high school. He saw the way Eric’s heart broke, how he would rather be remembered as the asshole frenemy than someone who was going to miss them, someone who never admitted their feelings for the redhead. He saw the relief on Stan’s face when they argued, he saw the distaste in Kenny’s eyes, he saw the guilt in Butters being. He watched them all go off to college, separately.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t need Kenny to tell </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> not to say anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He pretended not to see Eric walk out with tears running down his face, he wouldn’t let him know he saw him at his most vulnerable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t need to see his brother happily packing his things and humming an unknown tune to know he didn’t realize it yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle didn’t realize how much it was going to hurt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ike stayed silent about the boys, now men.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle would be lonely, no one could measure up to Eric Cartman.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they all came back at the end of their college life, finally graduated, to see that Eric had grown, he put the pieces of his heart back together, cherished them and molded them carefully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ike knew if he waited long enough Kyle would notice. Because now, Eric was different, Eric was better.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He saw the way Kyle’s eyes lingered on Eric’s face before a glint of realization struck him. He saw the way Eric smirked, the way Kyle flushed, an unspoken bond forming into something new. He saw the way Stan dropped into his seat, defeated, the way Kenny praised the heavens that it was finally over, the way Butters breathed a sigh of relief, no longer harboring a secret.</span>
</p><p><span>He saw the confusion on his brother’s face, how he quickly narrowed his eyes realizing </span><em><span>they</span></em> <em><span>had</span></em> <em><span>known.</span></em><span> He saw the mortification, he saw the insecurity.</span></p><p>
  <span>He saw the way Eric had comforted him, the way he let himself be pulled into an embrace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But truth be told, Ike saw this coming a mile away, he was clever like that.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>He’s intuitive.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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